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L. to R.: HealthSteps CEO and Co-Founder Benjamin King with COO and Co-Founder Brian Tisher. As First Place Winner of the AMA Health Care Interoperability and Innovation Challenge, HealthSteps received $25,000 Google Cloud Credits. (Photo: Business Wire)

L. to R.: HealthSteps CEO and Co-Founder Benjamin King with COO and Co-Founder Brian Tisher. As First Place Winner of the AMA Health Care Interoperability and Innovation Challenge, HealthSteps received $25,000 Google Cloud Credits. (Photo: Business Wire)

GAINESVILLE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--HealthSteps,
an emerging mobile health company providing innovative mobile software
solutions for improved health services delivery and clinical research
discovery, has announced it has won first place in the American Medical
Association (AMA) Interoperability and Innovation Challenge sponsored by
Google Cloud. The challenge invited health and technology sectors to
present mobile solutions that use patient-generated health data to
improve physician workflow, clinical outcomes, or reduce health care
system costs. From the initial 36 submissions, eight teams were selected
as finalists to present in front of industry leaders and stakeholders in
a pitch competition at Google’s offices in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
HealthSteps placed first out of 36 submissions from health and
technology entrepreneurs from around the world.

“We are very proud to have achieved first place. To be recognized in
such a way by the AMA and Google is an exciting win that is additional
validation of the company’s mobile health platform and our team’s
efforts. It is an important milestone,” said HealthSteps
CEO Benjamin King.

Digital Care Plans for Improved Patient Engagement

King explained, “HealthSteps represents an evolution of patient
engagement in healthcare. We have designed mobile apps to increase
connectivity via a patient's digital care plan.”

The synchronized care plan provides patients simple, detailed
instructions with activity reminders and the ability to report their
symptoms, all while connecting the medical team, family members and
other caregivers to help patients stay on track and improve health
outcomes.

The HealthSteps platform allows physicians to follow a patient's
progress and capture key health data from wearables and bio-sensing
devices. HealthSteps’ mobile platform also gives physicians access to
data in real-time, so they can adjust care plan activities as needed
without having to wait for the patient’s next clinic visit.

"The future of healthcare is literally in the palm of our hand," said HealthSteps
COO and co-founder, Brian Tisher. “The proliferation of mobile
devices enables physicians to connect with patients on an unprecedented
scale, allowing providers access to significantly more data points to
make medical decisions. By designing our platform using an intuitive and
clean interface, we engage patients more effectively."

Market Strategy and Business Development

The company is initially focusing on the electronic patient reported
outcomes (ePRO) and electronic clinical outcomes assessment (eCOA)
market; these ePRO and eCOA solutions enable clinical trials to capture
vital data. HealthSteps’ long-term strategy includes progressing further
into the healthcare arena, targeting healthcare providers, large medical
centers, and insurance companies.

HealthSteps is a resident company of UF
Innovate | The Hub, part of the University of Florida innovation
ecosystem, and is an excellent example of UF Innovate’s mission to build
business on innovation. The Hub is a mixed-use business incubator that
offers a place and a program to help companies such as HealthSteps
succeed.

“Our mission at UF Innovate | The Hub is to provide an environment that
builds, grows and supports the spirit of entrepreneurship, so companies
such as Ben’s can grow its ideas from inception to the marketplace,
fostering a resilient economy and making the world a better place in the
process,” commented Mark
Long, Director of Incubation Services at UF Innovate. “HealthSteps
is a rising star, a model resident client of The Hub, and we are
extremely pleased with its progress.”

HealthSteps and UF Health Pilot Program

The UF Innovate connections have been successfully leveraged by
HealthSteps to foster multiple partnerships with UF Health clinician
researchers.One such partnership has led to an ongoing
collaboration with Dr. William Slayton, division chief of Pediatric
Hematology and Oncology at UF Health. Parents and caregivers of children
with leukemia being treated by Dr. Slayton use the HealthSteps app to
manage medications and track symptoms. The goal is to improve medication
adherence and health outcomes in this population.

Formed in 2016, mobile health company HealthSteps seeks to complement
health care delivery by more effectively connecting patients with their
caregivers and healthcare providers. The company has developed a
patient-centered mobile platform that tracks a patient’s care plan
success, helps to prevent medical errors and enhances compliance through
care plan synchronization. The HealthSteps’ mobile platform provides
patients and their caregivers a better communications method for
improving health outcomes.

Located at the University of Florida's UF Innovate | The Hub,
HealthSteps has successfully piloted its mobile platform at UF Health
with Dr. William Slayton within the Division of Pediatric Hematology and
Oncology. The company is working within other clinical areas to provide
mobile care coordination as well as electronic capture of
patient-reported outcomes (ePRO) data to support clinical research.
HealthSteps plans to provide its mobile platform to other academic
institutions, contract research organizations and clinical trial
sponsors to improve subject compliance, a key factor in achieving
success in clinical trials.